trans/mission: November 17, 2019

Ron Benner

Trans/mission: November 17, 2019. The date refers to an article/op-ed in The Globe & Mail by St. Louis-based journalist Sarah Kendzior where she described the Trump administration as “a transnational crime syndicate masquerading as a government.” I subsequently bought her book, Hiding In Plain Sight, in April, 2020 which became the title of an open-call, online exhibition for the Embassy Cultural House which was zoom- launched on October 30, 2020 with 51 contributors. For the exhibition I photographed the process/tools involved in the making of Trans/mission: November 17, 2019 which was completed on October 8, 2020. The tools used were the following: The Globe & Mail newspaper, the op-ed article and sentence, “a transnational crime syndicate masquerading as a government” by Sarah Kendzior, watercolour paper, Mexican stencils, a ruler, a pencil, a mortar and pestle (cochineal), a Mexican lime squeezer (limes), a stainless steel cup and spoon, a recycled plastic container, a paint brush, and a Canon Rebel 35mm camera. Before the arrival of Europeans, the cochineal insect (a scarlet red) and the indigo plant (a translucent blue) were major trade items exported by the indigenous people of Oaxaca, Mexico to other parts of the Americas over thousands of years. I have used these colours, both raw and ground, in my work since 1987.

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